Ancient History 101
by Zelda Dolores
Summary: Eren's been having strange nightmares for years, all centered around one man with jet black hair and angry gray eyes who dies in arms every time. After meeting History professor Levi, the man from his nightmares, through a chance encounter at Starbucks, Eren begins to unravel the mystery behind his dreams. Eren/Levi. CollegeAU. T for Levi's excessive insults. Teacher/student.


Okay... So I know I haven't updated my other fanfiction in almost a year, but shit happens... And also laziness happens... And school happens...

I don't really have a valid excuse, but I'm here now publishing a shitty-ass fanfiction I wrote in a day! Hooray for me!

Funny story, this is actually for a school project of sorts... Kind of hard to explain, but basically we had this 3 month research project to do on a topic of our choice, and me being who I am, chose fanfiction... Well, 3 months later, here I am, posting something that should have been up ages ago.

Anyways, I'm likely going to take this story down, edit and revise when I have more time, and then post again. Probably over the summer.

Hope you enjoy reading this! And sorry for my rambling!

* * *

"_Levi! Oh God, someone help! He's bleeding! Bleeding a lot!" I screamed, trying to alert someone, anyone, of the fall of Humanity's Strongest Soldier. Everyone around me was trying to fight the variant, who was to my right. People were dying. A lot of people. I could hear screams of men and women, and more and more blood was being spilled. In my arms, Levi's torso wound was soaking through his uniform to form a puddle around us. His face was getting paler and paler, and I could see his eyes beginning to glaze over. _

"_Eren," he rasped. "I… I love you." _

"_Levi!"_

I bolted up. The cool sensation of perspiration was on my brow, and I was breathing heavily. It was another nightmare, that much I knew. What it was about though, as always, was lost to me. I could recall flashes of a face, and blood, lots of blood, but most all of it was gone.

Deciding there was no point in trying to fall back asleep, as I was more shaken than I would have liked to admit, I got up and walked over to the kitchen.

I did have a roommate, Bertholdt, but he was over at his boyfriend's room more nights than not, so I frequently had the apartment to myself.

These nightmares were beginning to really affect my health. Even without the night terrors, I don't get much sleep, but even the few hours a night I could manage were interrupted by the dreams. I didn't know if I should have been looking for professional help for my nightmares, but I had opted out, ultimately, since therapy was expensive, and paying for tuition, food, rent, and other basic necessities were a lot higher on my priority list than seeing a shrink.

I looked up to my clock. It was 4:57am, there were just under four hours until my first class of the day, German history. I knew there was no point in trying to force myself back into bed; I'd just wake up even more shaken in a few hours. Opening the cupboard, I took out the coffee grounds and a filter, then dumped them all haphazardly into the coffee-maker and turned it on.

Outside, the world was still asleep, and there were few cars on the busy Trost streets. Street lights were all that kept the neighborhood below visible, and the only thing still open in the area was the 24 hour convenience store.

On the kitchen table, my phone chimed, alerting me of a text from Armin.

**Armin: **Eren, are you up?

Somehow, he always knew.

**Me: **when am i not?

**Armin: **True, true. You should really take better care of yourself.

**Me: **i know. u dont have to tell me. i have Mikasa for that

**Armin:** Do you remember any of it this time?

**Me:** as always, no. i just know there was alot of blood.

**Armin: **Do you want me to come over?

**Me: **no. u have class in the morning. i know thats really important to u. its fine.

**Armin: **Okay. Let me know if there's anything you need.

**Me: **of course. good night.

**Armin: **Good night, Eren.

Sighing, I put my phone down. Armin was always so concerned for my well being, he and Mikasa were really the only people I had left in my life who still cared about what happened to me.

The coffee maker beeped, altering me of its completion, so I stumbled over to the machine and poured myself some of God's gift to Humanity. I don't know how I would manage to get through college without caffeine…

I went back into my bedroom and got onto my laptop. Since I wasn't going back to sleep, I might as well work on an essay for my Comp. Lit course.

_The History of the Three Walls_

_By Eren Jaeger_

_Introduction:_

I took a moment to stare at my screen. This stupid paper was due next week, and I had no clue what I was writing about. There wasn't very much known about the three walls: Sina, Rose, and Maria. There had been three big walls, no one knows why they were there, but humans back then felt the need to wall off a massive piece of land into three sections. Some of the ancient history textbooks had some crazy theories on why the three walls were resurrected - supposedly there were giant, man-eating beasts called titans who'd eat people, and the walls were made to keep them out, but it was all mythology.

I've never really cared for ancient history, but for some reason, when we were picking topics, I had the impulse to choose the three walls. After all the students had their topics, and were dismissed from class, I realized how totally and completely uncaring towards this topic I was, and shoved it to the back of my mind for the next few weeks. Now, I have a 20-page paper due on Monday about something I know nothing about…

There was a lonely history textbook flipped open to the section on the three walls on my desk, and although it really didn't have terribly reliable information in it, it was the only source I had access to at this hour.

Upon further inspection, the book seemed to be filled with the many conspiracy theories that existed in the Historian world. There was a lot of nonsense about titans.

_**Chapter 13: The Titans **_

_During the ninth century, there were great beasts that walked the land called titans. They were huge, ferocious creatures whose only driving need in the world was to eat human flesh. Humanity was in constant fear of the titans, and if it weren't for the walls, there'd be no humanity left._

_To keep the people safe and the human race alive, the people of the ninth century created a military. This military was split into three branches: The Garrison, the Military Police Brigade, and the Survey Corps. _

_The Garrison was the branch in charge of keeping the civilians safe, and the titan outside of the walls. Their job was to protect and maintain order near the walls. The Garrison was also the largest branch of the military._

_The Military Police Brigade were those in charge of keeping order in the inner human areas, such as wall Sina, the innermost wall, and also to give protection to the king. This branch only accepted the top ten trainees of each year, so they were an elite team of the best of the best._

_There is little known about the Survey Corps to this day. It was said that they were the hope of mankind. This branch dealt with exploration and eventual reclaiming of the land outside the walls. One of the most notable members of the Survey Corps was Lance Corporal Levi, or "Humanity's Strongest Soldier". _

All of a sudden, I didn't want to read anymore. A strange feeling of guilt bubbled up in my throat, and I quickly closed the textbook.

I glanced at the clock on the bottom right corner of my computer screen. 5:14am, still too early for any libraries or bookstores to be open. Starbucks was open, though, and one could never have too I went back into my bedroom and got changed. A T-shirt went over my head, and pants came up my legs. I threw a coat over my shoulders to fight the bitter November frost, grabbed phone and wallet, and went out the caffeine.

Once I was outside, I forgot all about my uneasiness that morning. The sky was a dark gray. The sun had yet to show itself, but the clouds colored the sky. It had been snowing a few days ago, and the ground was still covered in patches of slushy white ice. All of the trees planted outside of my apartment building had lost their leaves, and all the birds had left for warmer skies long ago.

Setting out at a brisk pace, I quickly walked the two blocks to my favorite coffee shop. Once inside, I was greeted by the warm smell of coffee being made, and the sharp aroma of the pumpkin being used in the many autumn drinks.

I went over to the cash register and got myself a hot coffee, just so I could fully wake up. After adding cream and sugar, I took my drink over to my favorite spot, only to find that there was already someone sitting there.

He wasn't a very large man. His posture was perfect, but despite his straight spine, he was still small. His hair was jet black, and he had an under cut. Around his neck he wore a cream colored cravat, and had on a spotless white button-down shirt.

As he turned around, I nearly dropped my coffee.

He was the man from my nightmares.


End file.
